Public relations: How ‘newsjacking’ can build company PR reputation

By Lenox Mhlanga
In today’s fast-paced world, news is constantly breaking. As a result, it can be difficult for companies and organizations to stay ahead of the news and build relationships with the right people. Fortunately, there now is what’s called newsjacking.

Newsjacking, the practice of taking a news story and using it to promote your brand or product, is becoming a popular tactic in public relations and marketing campaigns. But what is newsjacking, and how can you use it to your advantage?

Best practices for newsjacking involve creating content in tandem with breaking news, creating content that is relevant and timely as news breaks, and then promoting that content through channels that are meaningful to your target audience.

Newsjacking also involves taking a news story that already exists and using it to reach a larger audience than traditional PR tactics would allow. This can generate media coverage, build a brand’s reputation, or generate leads.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an explosion of news content on social media. Much of the news is from organisations that don’t represent the mainstream and often provide a platform for a particular point of view. These social media platforms have also become a key distribution channel for traditional media, who are scrambling to stay relevant in a landscape dominated by social media.

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There are three major benefits of PR newsjacking. Connecting your brand to a current news item can expose it to a new audience, raising its PR profile. Joining a viral debate makes it simpler to gain attention, since it is not restricted to people who are already aware of the brand.

Second, commenting on current events in the media shows that your company is on par with industry challenges. Being a thought leader increases stakeholder trust and helps one to demonstrate value to a company’s audience.

Newsjacking is also an excellent approach to convey what your organization does in a non-promotional manner. If you are interviewed or cited in the media, you will gain credibility in your field and may eventually become the go-to person to comment on industry concerns and trends.

In PR, we know that appearing in the media is a favoured way of boosting a business’s reputation. This makes newsjacking a brilliant strategy to improve brand recognition. Newsjacking ties your brand with popular subjects, increasing audience awareness of your messaging. Your brand will grow and stand out as you become a well-known name in your industry.

Locally, Mambos chicken has taken newsjacking to a new level by using daring humour, latching onto topical issues. Their latest parody involved riding on the much awaited monetary statement by the finance minister, Prof Mthuli Ncube. Though this turned out to be a non-event, Mambos released a list of their own ‘Non-Monetary Benefits.’

Not lost out in their spoof was highlighting the glaring fact that the press conference touted in a media release to begin at 10:30am ‘sharp’ ended up starting a full 20 minutes later. Much to the chagrin of a boardroom full of sweating journalists.

Another restaurant chain, Nando’s, have turned into an art form this novel way of using viral content to build buzz and generate leads for a company or brand. Notwithstanding, it takes a certain creativity, tact and finesse to pull one off without falling flat.

It’s a tactic that corporations and politicians alike have leveraged to generate maximum exposure and influence with minimum investment.

“In a successful newsjacking, an organization injects a marketing message into the reporting of a particular fact. To do this successfully, the organization needs to respond (usually quickly) to a news event that generates a lot of press attention in a short time,” says RafWeverbergh, a communication strategist.

A deep awareness of breaking news and trending topics is required for effective newsjacking. There may be nothing to mention, but it is critical to create an environment in which you are at the top of the news agenda. Experts recommend that newsjacking should be included in an organisation’s PR strategy.

As newsjacking has grown in prominence, so too has the amount of jargon, buzzwords, and questionable advice surrounding the concept. This has led to a situation where it’s difficult for beginners to understand the fundamentals of the strategy without being lost in a sea of verbiage.

When newsjacking was first introduced to the world of public relations, it was met with scepticism, referred to as “Twitterfied public relations,” and many thought it would never catch on. Those in the industry were used to the traditional method of press releases and media contacts. But when newsjacking was first introduced,

Now, newsjacking has become a staple in PR and marketing campaigns, often referred to as “content marketing for the digital age.”

Another example is where a journalist creates a news article and wants to share it on social media to get the word out. The reporter takes an event or topic that’s making news and uses it to write about something else related or not related to the original news story. This unrelated topic might be a company, industry, or public figure’s statement about a current event. Social media is then used to gain more traction and expose the brand to one’s target demographic.

While newsjacking may be an effective public relations tactic, it is critical to be judicious about the things you discuss. One should avoid sensitive themes and choose topics that resonate with your brand’s narrative and messaging to ensure the success of your newsjacking efforts. If there is nothing interesting to say, then it is better to stay out it.